those that gave us life.

It appeared as though the parents of Dennis Quaid had conspired during the last bit of March to inundate our humble abode with hints of spring cleaning and Easter cheer. Within a week we had hosted the parents of Emily and Allison and even my own ma and pa joined in! 

Some of us were skeptical at first, worried that we'd be reprimanded for our disconcerting kitchen habits and overflowing compost bin...

... but it was soon clear that the adults were just as excited as us to cook up some trouble.

We hosted a dinner party of fifteen in honor of dear Barb and Lil' Ricky Safrin who brought us reasonable inquiries, endless information and fascinating opinions on topics such as clean energy, our involvement in Libya and lentils. I quote Sean Ian Tully, "I think I speak for us all when I say we'd be interested in learning more about lentils." Spoken like a true man.

Here's what one side of the dinner table looked like:

The next festivity occurred once my mom and pop rolled into town. My momma diligently hard-boiled six dozen eggs during the wee hours of the morning so that after work, all of us kids (and dad) could unwind and get messy with some good ole' Ukrainian egg dye and rubber bands.

 

After the eggs had become beautiful, it was announced that there was a surprise egg hunt in the basement and each of us was allowed to uncover seven colorful eggs! Shock and silence fell over the crowd before we all sprinted down the stairs, shoving and scrambled to collect our bounty.

Once the visits were over and we were once again "home alone", we all decided that parents are welcome to our house any minute of any day of any year. 

We LOVE them!